Local News
Outrage for Spanking? What about Family Violence
By
Nov 2, 2009, 02:00

Outrage for school spanking occurs from a few activists whenever and wherever the subject comes up.  But when was the last time you have seen outrage for an act of family violence?  Ya think maybe people are avoiding dealing with a tough issue?  I do.

If you think that family violence is regularly dealt with as it should, you'd be wrong.  One may look at the Terrence Allen case as a good example of the challenges.

About Family Violence
Family violence, by law, is any felony or battery, simple battery, simple assault, assault, stalking, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, or criminal trespass
between
-persons living or formerly living in the same household
-past or present spouses
-persons who are parents of the same child
-parents and children
-stepparents and stepchildren
-foster parents and foster children

The Challenge of Family Violence Arrests
If a suspect is arrested under a Family Violence charge, he is taken to County Jail.  The officer must, many times on his own time, plead his case to the Magistrate Judge to receive a warrant for the arrest.  If the magistrate declines to issue the warrant within 24 hours, the charges are dropped.

If an arrest warrant is issued for a Family Violence charge, a bond for the suspect's release may only be set in front of, and by the judge.  Suspects arrested stay in County Jail until they this bond hearing rather than boding out on set bonds for battery or disorderly conduct.

Family violence warrants are tightly controlled by the magistrate.  In all but a very few cases, the magistrate will not issue a warrant for the arrest if the spouse/girlfriend is not willing to testify against the suspect.

This is due to the overwhelmed court system.  When the case goes to court, many times the abused spouse/girlfriend will actually testify on behalf of her abuser.  The spouse/girlfriend faces the need for the income the accused brings into the household or may feel physically threatened.

The net effect of all this actually discourages Public Safety Officers and Sheriff's Deputies from pursuing Family Violence charges.  It is a challenging problem that needs to be overcome in order to help curb Family Violence.

The Georgia legislature wrote the Family Violence law to allow (perhaps even encourage) an officer to pursue family violence charges using pictures and other evidence for documentation if the spouse/girlfriend does not wish to pursue charges.

It states in O.C.G.A. 17-4-20.1 "the officer shall not base the decision of whether to arrest and charge a person on the specific consent of the victim or on a request by the victim solely or on consideration of the relationship of the parties."

As stated though, law enforcement has to overcome the overwhelmed court system with the lack of money and resources and the cost of full jails.

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